


Baby Blues

by Maybe44



Category: Hudson & Rex (TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28031256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maybe44/pseuds/Maybe44
Summary: A new case leads Detective Charlie Hudson, his canine partner Rex and Chief of Forensics Sarah Truong to a brand new task... Taking care of a little baby.
Relationships: Charlie Hudson/Sarah Truong
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	Baby Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Still no native speaker, so... you know. :)

The night was dark and cold. At least the rain pouring down the whole day had stopped by now. Everybody, who had no urgent business to attend to, was lucky to stay at home. Nonetheless the orange Dodge with a man on the wheel and a dog in the backseat drove through the darkness until it finally came to a stop at the parking lot of St. John's Waterford Valley High School. The lights of several patrol cars cut through the darkness and revealed police officers bustling around.

Detective Charlie Hudson stepped out of his car and scanned the scene. Then he opened the back door for his canine partner, Rex, to jump out. Immediately the german shepherd's nose went to the ground, sniffing inquisitively.

Charlie walked up to a dark haired, slender figure bending over a corpse. "Hey Sarah!"

"Charlie, hi!" The chief of forensics of St John's Police Department turned around and threw him a radiant smile, one of those which made the detective's insides churning with warmth. "Oh hi, Rex!" Sarah, seemingly unaware of the detective's temporary need to compose himself, greeted the dog happily.

"What have we got here?" Charlie asked, now back in professional mode.

Sarah turned to the body on the ground and stepped back to help Charlie get a better look. "Woman, early twenties, stab wounds to the torso. Massive blood loss. Can't be dead for long."

"Any ID?"

"Nothing so far. Her pockets were empty, no handbag nearby. It's so sad. Such a young girl, her whole life still ahead of her..."

Charlie nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, sometimes it's really hard to take."

Meanwhile Rex, well known to all the officers on duty, strolled the crime scene, nose on the ground. He stiffened when a very special smell hit his sensitive nostrils. He followed the smell for a few more steps to some bushes lying in total darkness, then turned around and barked excitedly.

Charlie and Sarah simultaneously turned around at the sound.

"Hey buddy, what did you find over there?" The detective walked over to his dog, followed by Sarah. He patted Rex' neck. "Show me whatcha got!"

Whining the german shepherd crawled under the bushes. Charlie and Sarah tried to get a better look, but it was too dark behind the thick branches.

"We need more light here!" Charlie signaled to a technican nearby.

Suddenly Sarah put her hand on Charlie's arm. "Shhh! Did you hear that?"

"No, what... oh! That! It almost sounds like...."

"A Baby!" Sarah added. "There's a baby in there!"

Carefully they put the branches aside and pulled a baby carrier with a crying infant out of the bushes. 

"Oh my!" Sarah looked at Charlie, seemingly at a loss at what to do now. The detective seemed overwhelmed with the situation as well and stood dumbfounded.

Eventually Rex gently nudged the carrier with his nose and the crying stopped for a second. In that moment Sarah's motherly instincts finally seemed to kick in. Carefully she took the infant out of the carrier and held it close to her body, whispering soothing things.  
Then she turned to Charlie, who watched the scene mezmerized. "We need to get her checked out as soon as possible. It's freezing, and who knows how long she's been out there!"

"She?" was all Charlie could manage to say, his voice sounding hoarse.

Sarah shrugged. "Pink knitted baby cap. Figured as much."

Oh Boy. Mentally Charlie slapped himself for not paying attention. But seeing Sarah with the baby cradled in her arms did things to him he couldn't quite place right now. So he answered "Yeah, right. Let's get out of here." and guided Sarah to his car, Rex following close behind.

Back at the precinct Sarah's examination of the infant revealed that it was indeed a healthy girl of about twelve weeks. Their colleagues gathered around them instantly, as the news of finding an abandoned baby at the crime scene had spread like wildfire. 

After a while, Joe came to see them as well and he had some news to share. "I called child service. They are very happy to leave the little one in our care for the moment being. They have loads of work and half of their employees have the flu."

"In our care means what excactly?" Charlie asked hesitantly.

Joe winked. "Well, I thought you and Sarah could look after her. It seems you get along quite nicely and since Sarah needs to run some more tests on the baby and we don't know what this is all about, I'd feel much better to know her safe and sound."

Neither Sarah nor Charlie objected. Instead they stood side by side, watching the happy babbling child with a tender smile.

"That's settled then." Joe stated.

Jesse grinned broadly. "Well then - congratulations Mom and Dad!"

Charlie rolled his eyes at the young tech, but it was with a content smile. Sarah chuckled and shook her head. 

It was Joe who suggested "Well, better get her a name. Don't want to call her Baby or little one forever, do ya? What about Alice, Eve or Emma?"

Sarah and Charlie looked at each other and said in unison "Emma!" Rex barked approvingly.

Jesse threw his head back and loughed out loud. "Awww, so much love!"

Flustered, Sarah's cheeks turned red.  
Charlie, equally flustered, tried a diversion."Don't we need things, like, uh, Baby things to take her in?"

"You do." Joe nodded in agreement. "I've already send an officer out with a long list!"

Bewildered Charlie asked "You did? What made you think we'd agree?"

"Oh come on!" Now it was Joe's turn to grin smugly before he turned around and left for his office, which led to another one of Jesse's laughing fits.

Later, after Sarah had instructed her assistant Kelly about what needed to be done in the lab, as they still had no idea who the victim was, and a officer arrived with two bags full of baby food, clothing and diapers, they finally left. In no time they had agreed to move to Charlie's home for the time being. 

Fortunately Joe had thought about a baby carrier which could be installed in the car. Nonetheless it took them a while to install the sleeping baby to the seat in the back of the Dodge. But they worked well together and finally Sarah climbed in next to Emma in the back of the car, in case the little one would wake up during the drive home. That left Rex to sit in the front, contrary to his habits. However, the dog didn't seem to mind.

They made it to the house before Emma began to wail in earnest and Charlie took over the process of getting the baby out of the car seat and rocked her, while Sarah hurried inside and prepared a bottle. She took the wailing infant from Charlie and placed the nipple of the bottle in the baby’s mouth as she sat down on the couch. Emma quieted immediately and both Charlie and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.

When the baby finished the bottle and Sarah had burped, changed, and rocked her back to sleep in her carrier, she joined Charlie, who had fed Rex in the meantime, in putting away their purchases. 

"You know, she needs a proper place to sleep. Can't keep her in the carrier all night."

"You're right." Charlie looked around the room. "Maybe we could lay her on the couch?"

"Nah. What if she turns and falls down?"

"Right. What about the bed, then? If we put her right in the middle..." 

At this moment, Rex lifted his head and began to bark. Seconds later there was a knock on the door. Charlie motioned for Sarah to stay back and opened the door carefully, his hand already on the gun on his belt.

"Joe. Come in!" The Detective greeted the Superintendent, who stood in the porch heavily packed.

"Thanks, but I have to run. Just wanted to give you this. Little Emma over there sure needs a safe place to sleep, doesn't she?"

Sarah smiled. "That's what we were wondering about, right before you came by!"

"Well, I remembered still having my daughter's crib in the garage. You just have to assemble the furniture. Right, gotta run. Have fun!"

The door had barely closed behind Joe when Emma started to get restless.

"Why don't you take Emma and Rex for a walk, while I set up that thing Joe brought over?" Charlie said, eyeing the wooden parts warily.

Sarah stifled a laugh. She remembered fixing a leaking ceiling in Charlie's home not long ago, because he couldn't do it. So instead she suggested "Why don't we do it just the other way round? You take Rex and Emma, and I'm setting up that crib?"

"Sounds like a good plan!" Charlie agreed, feeling relieved. 

Together they dressed the baby in warm clothes, a jacket and another knitted baby cap in pale pink. The clothes and the cap Emma wore when they found her were still at the lab to be examined for any traces by Kelly.

Then Charlie called out for Rex and Sarah watched them leave. She decided she definitely loved the sight of Charlie pushing the stroller, Rex strolling along. With a tender smile she turned around and went to work when the three of them could no longer be seen on the street. 

Sarah had just stepped back to admire her work and the wonderful wooden crib, when there was a knock on the door. Had Charlie forgotten his keys? "Hey Charlie, did you forget..." she said while opening the door, stopping dead in her tracks in the process. There was no Charlie standing on the porch, but a beautiful tall lady with long blonde hair, falling in slight waves over her shoulders. "Oh, hi! Can I help you?"

The woman mustered Sarah, clearly surprised to see her there. "Umm, actually I was looking for Charlie... Charlie Hudson."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, he's not here right now. Can I help you?" Sarah gave her a strained smile. Thousand thoughts were running through her head. Did Charlie forget about having a date this evening? Who was this stunningly beautiful woman? She hadn't known Charlie was seeing anyone. Somehow she had hoped he was not seeing anyone at the moment.

Before the Blonde could give a reply, Rex came running around the corner, happily greeting Sarah and consequently ignoring the other woman when he sidled up to his second favourite human in the world. Then Charlie came around the corner as well, pushing the stroller and softly humming to the baby. He looked up with a warm smile which faded instantly, as his eyes landed on the Blonde. "Julia. What are you doing here?"

The woman looked from Charlie to the stroller to Sarah with Rex next to her and back to Charlie. "I... ummm... i just wanted to... Never mind. I didn't know about...this." she gestured to the stroller and took two steps back. "I'll better leave." With that she turned around and left in a hurry.

Charlie, clearly annoyed, shook his head, pulled the stroller to the front door and scooped Emma up. Then he turned to Sarah and explained. "That was Julia. My Ex-wive."

Sarah gasped and her hand went to her mouth. "Oh my." She followed him inside. "You do realize she now thinks that you became a baby daddy?"

The detective just shrugged. "I don't mind." He smiled warmly "I don't mind at all." Then he added "You know, we actually didn't part on good terms."

"What went wrong with you two?" Sarah asked gently.

"She cheated on me." He replied with no emotion in his voice.

He heard the breath get caught in her throat.

Her words came out a little harsh, and confused. "I'm sorry- did you say she cheated?"

"Yeah." he said, searching her face. He saw what he heard. Anger and confusion.

Then she let out a dry chuckle. "Who in their right mind would cheat on you? You are literally perfect." she snapped her mouth shut, realizing she might have said to much.  
"Sorry, I just don't understand how people do something like that. Especially to you."

Sarah busied herself and took the baby's jacket and cap off. Charlie watched her closely. Her indignation over Julia's behaviour touched him and he was pretty sure, due to her reaction, that she experienced something similar in the past. Perhaps he would find courage to ask her about that one time.

Then Charlie spotted the wooden crib. "Wow, Sarah, this is wonderful!" Carefully he placed Emma on the cushion Sarah had already put inside and pulled the blanket tightly around her small frame. The baby's eyes closed right away and she drifted to sleep.

"Now, what do you think about grabbing a bite to eat?"

"Sounds great! I'm starving!"

They decided on pasta, which could be prepared in no time. After their meal they sat together, their stomachs full and satisfied.  
Rex, who surely had gotten his fair share of pasta as well, snored on the couch. 

A wail came from the cradle. “I got her.” Sarah said as she jumped off the couch and scooped the baby up with a bright smile. 

"So... do you want to have kids of your own one day?" Charlie finally dared to ask.

Sarah had to think for a moment before giving an answer. "Actually, I think I do. You know, earlier I didn't quite see kids in my future, with me and Thomas having this long-distance relationship. But since we broke up a while ago, who knows what the future brings."

The detective had known before about the end of Sarah's relationship and he hadn't excactly been sad about it. "You're gonna be a great mom some day." Charlie stated."You're pretty natural with Emma."

Sarah eyed him warily. "How about you? You'd make a great dad, I'm sure."

Charlie smiled. "Yeah, who knows? Earlier I would have said no in an instant. In my marriage with Julia, things were always difficult. No way a child could have fit in our life back then. But things have changed. I have changed..."

Sarah shot him a tender look and put Emma, who was fast asleep again, back in the crib. "I'm sure you'll find the perfect girl to have a perfect family some day."

"Oh, I think I already have.. " Charlie mumbled, not daring to look at the woman who had secretly wormed her way into his heart over the past months. 

"Oh...okay. I didn't know..." Sarah answered and looked to the ground sadly, one hand still placed on the rim of the crib. Somehow, deep in her heart, there was a pang of jealousy. Yes, she was jealous of that girl Charlie could imagine having children with. She had always liked her colleague who had turned to a friend in the last months. And she finally had to admit to herself, she even more than just liked him in a friendly way. She had this fuzzy, warm feeling in her stomach whenever she was near him. And when his blue eyes meet hers, her heart automatically sped up the beat. But she never had acted on her feelings for him, and now it seemed it was to late. Over, before it even had begun.

Charlie couldn't stand counting the quiet seconds. So he chanced a glance over at Sarah and his stomach rolled. There were tears shining in her eyes.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Charlie coming to stand next to her until he placed his hand softly over hers.

"You do know I've been talking about you all the time, don't you?" He asked softly, his thumb caressing the back of her hand.

"Huh?" was all Sarah managed to say. Suddenly she noticed the closeness to Charlie and could almost feel his body heat radiating. When she turned to face him, she was surprised to see so much honesty and even love in his eyes. "You... you did?"

Charlie nodded. "I did. And I meant every single word. Sarah, I..."

But before he could finish his sentence, the phone rang. With a disappointed sigh the detective answered the call. "Hey Jesse. What's up?" While he listened to the young tech on the other end of the line he looked at Sarah apologetically. "Okay. Thanks, Jesse. Have a good night."

When he had ended the call, he informed Sarah about what he had learned. "They've finally been able to identify the victim. Amanda Bishop, 24. Emma, whose real name is Mae, by the way, is definitely the murdered woman's child. Her grandmother is flying over from Toronto to pick her up tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. That was fast." Sarah said, the regret evident in her voice.

"Yeah. Oh, and they even found the killer. Her boyfriend, apparantly the baby's dad. Drug dealer of the worst kind with a history of violence. Her mother said Amanda wanted to run away to raise the baby without him and his drug business."

Sarah nodded gravely. "That explains why she hid Emma... Mae... in the bushes. She didn't want him to get her at all costs."

Charlie looked at the peacefully sleeping child. "I think I'd still like to call her Emma until we give her back."

"Me too." Sarah smiled back, took his hand and squeezed it. The 'we' hadn't gone unnoticed. 

Rex, who meanwhile had settled on his dog bed, laid his head on his paws and whimpered softly.

So Charlie and Sarah stood together, hand in hand, watching the sleeping infant for a while. Finally Charlie broke the silence. "Umm, about what I had wanted to say earlier.."

Sarah looked at him expectantly. 

He locked eyes with her. What he saw there in her soft brown eyes gave him the courage to continue. He took a deep breath.  
"Sarah, I... I'm in love with you."

A radiant smile spread over her face and she stood on her toes to kiss him softly. Charlie returned the kiss only too happy. After their lips parted, Sarah whispered "I love you too, you know."

"Well, that's lucky." He whispered back and pulled her close again with a huge grin on his face.

Later that night, Sarah woke up, already missing Charlie's gentle touch. They had cuddled up on the couch as sleep was out of the question with Emma waking up every other hour. 

The room was almost dark and she could hear Rex snoring on the floor. And there was another sound she couldn't place at first. Was that really Charlie singing a lullaby for the baby?

Hush, little baby don't you  
Hush, little baby don't say a word  
Papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird

And if that mocking bird don't sing  
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring is brass  
Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke  
Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat don't pull  
Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull turn over  
Papa's gonna buy you a dog called... Rex

And if that dog called Rex don't bark  
Papa's gonna buy you a horse and cart

And if that horse and cart turn round  
You'll still be the sweetest little babe in town  
Still be the sweetest little babe in town  
La, la, la, la, la, la  
Hush, little baby don't you cry...

Quitely Sarah crossed the room to the window where Charlie was rocking Emma in his arms. She slung her arms around his hips and cuddled against his back. "A dog named Rex?"

"Well, can't sing about about any other dog than Rex, can I?"

"No." Sarah smiled. "No, you can't."

Carefully Charlie put Emma back in her crib. "I'm gonna miss her."

"Me too. A lot." Sarah agreed and stiffled a yawn. "But I won't miss getting a whole night's sleep." 

Charlie playfully raised his eyebrows. "What on earth makes you think I will be able to keep my hands tied once I get you all to myself?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "Promise?"

"Promise." Charlie confirmed and crashed his lips to hers once more, pouring all the happiness he felt right now into the kiss. He just couldn't get enough of her, finally being able to hold her and to kiss her.

With another look at the sleeping baby they settled back on the couch together. 

They would definitely miss little Emma. But who knew what the future would hold for them one day.

\- END.


End file.
